F1 | Ferrari, Hamilton effect: The stock market value rises by 7 billion

As previously reported by Motorsport.com, Hamilton would be close to a sensational move to Ferrari starting from 2025, thus unexpectedly ending his relationship with Mercedes after more than ten seasons together.

According to rumors, the official announcement of his departure from the German manufacturer to join the Maranello team together with Charles Leclerc could arrive in the next few days, or as early as Thursday. In fact, according to what Motorsport.com has learned, Mercedes personnel have already been informed of the development of the matter in a meeting at the factory in Brackley today, which was attended by Team Principal Toto Wolff and technical director James Allison .

Should the news be confirmed, Mercedes will now have to reflect on what to do in the long term to replace Hamilton, given that obvious targets such as Lando Norris and Leclerc have signed long-term contracts in recent days. Neither Ferrari nor Mercedes have released an official comment on the developments in the Hamilton affair, which has sent F1 into a tailspin.

But the wider impact of Hamilton's decision was clear for the world to see, with Ferrari's value skyrocketing when the New York Stock Exchange opened. Following a positive revenue and underlying earnings statement, with earnings before EBITDA expected to grow to $2.64 billion this year thanks to a healthy order book, there was a notable price change .

After closing trading on Wednesday with a share price of $346.78, the stock jumped to a high of $384.00 after Thursday's open and is expected to rise further throughout the day.

This gives Ferrari an estimated market capitalization of $69.12 billion, up sharply from $62.4 billion at the close of trading on Wednesday. The increase of almost 7 billion dollars in the value of the company is a huge vote of confidence in the decision towards Ferrari, also including the positive implications in terms of image that Hamilton's arrival could guarantee.

Ferrari's current share price is up sharply from its 12-month low of $252 and, in announcing its quarterly results confirmed today, Ferrari reported record profits. The Cavallino house in fact closed last year with net revenues of almost six billion euros, an increase of 17.2% compared to the 5.1 billion obtained in the previous year.

In 2023 Hamilton had signed a long-term contract with Mercedes covering the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but the second season was only an option, which did not make the contract lockable. Hamilton appears to have activated an exit clause that will allow him to join Ferrari in 2025 as a replacement for Carlos Sainz, whose current contract expires at the end of this year.